The Need

The need for an ideal solution

Typical users would be well served by one or more of the existing backup solutions discussed on the Existing Tools page.  The focus here is on scenarios where a combination of the following apply:

• Either 10TB of total source data or complex encryption or distribution requirements.  
• Budget of around $200 per year, to cover drive replacements and online storage costs etc. 
• The capital or time costs of running dedicated servers would be too great.
• The need to identify an expunge data based on ownership or another tag. For instance, it should be simple and reliable to comply with a deletion request from a specific client.
• Parts of the storage system need to be readily shared or synchronised with independent client systems. These parts need to be protected with independent encryption keys to avoid leaks from one client from risking the entire network.  
• The need for metadata or interpretive search and internet delivered UX systems to assist. This more or less rules out  cost-effective backup systems like Backblaze, but even google drive falls short for some.
• Additional metadata from within the files or from their original location is required to locate them. This issue is typical when a search indexer cannot directly access files to inspect content which would occur whenever:
• Important attributes are inherent in the source file system and are lost in the 'sync' process.
• Situations where files are encrypted on the target volumes.
• Where online storage systems that don't have great in-built indexers
• Significant complexity in the overall data network.  This could include a lack of network connectivity or reduced bandwidth between storage nodes. The inclusion of existing backup systems that are slow or expensive to export metadata from. 

Use this slack channel if you want to give feedback or discuss anything you see here: 

https://puddler.slack.com/messages/C04LYQXGBMH